FOXBORO, Mass. -- Kendrick Bourne has every reason to be discouraged by the first nine weeks of the Patriots season.
After a great first campaign in New England, Bourne endured a disappointing, drama-filled training camp that left him buried on the receiver depth chart to start the season. Although his playing time has steadily increased since his Week 1 benching, Bourne's production has remained well behind his output from 2021. Through nine weeks last season, Bourne had 29 catches for 422 yards and two touchdowns. This season, he entered the Week 10 bye with 14 receptions for 147 yards and zero touchdowns. Bourne also missed one game due to an injury and saw his name pop up in many trade rumors before ultimately not being moved before the deadline last Tuesday.
So, it would be understandable if Bourne wore his frustrations on his sleeve, especially after catching just three passes for 11 yards and fumbling on Sunday. And yet, the 27-year-old remains his typically energetic, perpetually upbeat self inside New England's locker room.
Part of that is Bourne just being who he is. But it's also because the Patriots continue to stack victories, with Sunday's 26-3 beatdown of the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium representing their fourth win in five games.
"Just keep winning, no matter how they come," a smiling Bourne told NESN.com after the Patriots moved to 5-4. "Our defense is just playing phenomenal. They're helping the offense so much. Even special teams is helping us so much."
Still, Bourne knows things can't stay the way they are on offense. If the Patriots only can rack up 203 total yards, as they did against the Colts, they won't go anywhere this season.
"As we obviously know, we're not as -- well, everybody says -- as good as we need to be, or whatever, but it's not about anybody else. It's about what we feel in here. Just playing better complimentary (football). But, it's looking promising. So, hopefully we can pick it up and just keep getting wins."
The Patriots could live with unimpressive stats if they were putting the ball into the end zone. But the sad reality is that New England currently ranks 29th in red-zone touchdown percentage.
"Just want to score more touchdowns as a group," Bourne told reporters. "No frustration. Win is a win. We win, it's all good. But definitely want to score more. You know, once we play other teams, we need to be able to score. ...
"Especially (with) the defense putting us in great position. We have to take advantage. They're baling, so we just gotta play better complementary football. Special teams, defense balling -- offense just needs to figure it out."
Whether the Patriots indeed can figure things out on offense, and whether Bourne will be a key part of it, remains to be seen. But things won't get any easier for Bill Belichick's team after the bye week.
New England will return from its extended break Sunday, Nov. 20, when it hosts the New York Jets in a pivotal AFC East rematch.
